Days after quota agitation leader Hardik Patel joined the Congress, an unidentified person hacked the official website of the Gujarat Congress and uploaded his photo, which appears to be a screenshot of one of his alleged sex videos that surfaced ahead of the 2017 polls.

In the photo, a person resembling Patel can be seen sitting on the bed with a girl and it is accompanied by a caption -- 'Welcome our new leader'.

According to Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi, the website, 'http://www.gujaratcongress.in', was taken down immediately by the party's IT team after spotting the 'mischief'.

"Our website was hacked. Someone put a photo of Hardik Patel on it. We have shut down the website immediately. It will become online soon. "This might be the handiwork of those who did not like Hardik's entry into the Congress," said Doshi, adding the party may file a police complaint.

Ahead of the December 2017 Assembly elections in Gujarat, around five videos, purportedly showing Patel with women, had surfaced on social media platforms.

The 25-year-old Patidar quota agitation spearhead had then claimed all the videos were 'fake and morphed'. -- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party welcomed Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's aunt and her husband into the party fold at a function in Kochi on Friday but faced embarrassment as they said they were already supporters of the saffron party.

The development comes a day after congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan joined the BJP.

Tharoors aunt Sobhana Sasikumar and her husband Sasikumar said they had been long time supporters of the BJP and wondered why such a function was organised to welcome them into the party.

Welcoming 14 new members from diverse backgrounds into the party, BJP's Kerala president P S Sreedharan Pillai called them the cream of Kochi and honoured them with a party shawl in the media's presence.

Addressing the function, Pillai hailed the historic background of Tharoor's family in Palakkad district and said people from such backgrounds becoming part of the BJP have to be welcomed.

When reporters approached Tharoor's relatives, the duo said they had been long time supporters of the BJP and did not know why such a function was organised to welcome them and asked the media to put the question to BJP leaders as to why it was held and left the venue.

BJP Ernakulam district general secretary K S Shaijusaid the function was organised to give membership to new people.

Tharoor's relatives might have attended various party functions as its supporters but Friday's function was organised to give them party membership, he said.

According to Congress sources, Tharoor is likely to be the party candidate from the Thiruvanathapuram constituency which he currently represents. -- PTI

Holding free and fair elections is one of the biggest challenges facing the Indian democracy due to prevalent 'abuse' of money power, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said on Friday.

Addressing a meeting of the Multi-Departmental Committee on Election Intelligence in New Delhi, Arora also said the poll panel is determined to curb the menace and it has issued detailed guidelines to monitor election expenditure incurred by candidates and political parties.

"The expenditure monitoring mechanism has got stronger over a period of time and larger seizures have been made by our enforcement teams in successive elections," a statement issued by the poll panel quoted Arora as saying.

"Conducting clean elections is now one of the biggest challenges in our democracy given the prevalent abuse of money power, particularly when it manifests in inducement of voters," he was quoted as saying.

Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa said implementation of instructions of the poll panel requires coordination among various expenditure monitoring teams and the agencies tasked with enforcement.

Sharing of intelligence amongst the agencies should ensure that there is concerted attack on problems faced. He noted that multi-dimensional, multi-fanged crime needs to be tackled with coordinated action.

He also cautioned that mischief mongers are devising more ingenious ways to beat the system.

Fellow Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that ensuring there was no illegal use of money for buying votes is vital for clean elections.

Use of money during the elections has increased leaps and bounds in recent times and, therefore, there is a greater need to have synergy amongst various enforcement agencies so that a collective strategy is developed to fight this menace, he said.

Other issues discussed at the meeting included ways of curbing covert expenditure by candidates and political parties, sensitisation of the law-enforcement agencies about their role during elections, cooperation and sharing of intelligence of economic offences amongst law enforcement agencies. -- PTI

Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit appeared to be isolated over the issue of alliance with Aam Aadmi Party for Lok Sabha polls, as All India Congress Committee in-charge P C Chacko on Friday claimed that 'many' in the party were in favour of such up tie-up.

He, however, said that a final call on the issue of alliance with AAP in Delhi will be taken by the Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Dikshit, who has been opposing an alliance with AAP, refused to respond to questions on the development.

The differences in the party over the issue of alliance surfaced on Thursday after Dikshit registered her protest over a phone survey covering over 52,000 Delhi Congress workers carried out by Chacko.

The workers were asked if they favoured alliance in Delhi with ruling AAP to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Lok Sabha polls.

"There are many leaders and workers in Delhi Congress who are in favour of alliance with AAP. But a final call in this regard will be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi. We will submit our report on survey result to him," Chacko told PTI.

The All India Congress Committee incharge of Delhi unit said that Dikshit may have her views about the alliance, but 'everyone will have to follow the decision of party president Rahul Gandhi on it'.

Many senior Delhi Congress leaders also expressed their views in favour of alliance citing the need to defeat the BJP in Lok Sabha elections.

Former Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra, who held the post during the Sheila Dikshit government, said that he will go by the decision of the party high command on the alliance issue.

"The party policy is that the BJP regime must be removed at any cost which is there for us to follow," Chopra told reporters.

Former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken had asserted Thursday that the phone survey was conducted on the direction of Gandhi and it was 'wrong' if anyone in the party questioned it. Dikshit had said the move to conduct the survey was 'overriding' the decision taken against the alliance by Rahul Gandhi.

"There should be no confusion. Our stand remains what it was," she had said referring to her meeting with Rahul Gandhi earlier this month after which she claimed there was unanimity in the party against an alliance with the AAP in Delhi. -- PTI

Scotland Yard on Friday said that officers will be undertaking extra patrols around mosques in the United Kingdom in the wake of the terror attacks on New Zealand mosques in which 49 people have been killed.

The Metropolitan Police is monitoring the situation since the mass shootings at Christchurch and remained on stand-by to offer support to its counterparts in New Zealand, Scotland Yard's Indian-origin National Policing Lead for Counter-Terrorism Neil Basu said.

"We will be stepping up reassurance patrols around mosques and increasing engagement with communities of all faiths, giving advice on how people and places can protect themselves," the UK's senior-most counter-terrorism official said.

"Our international network of UK counter terrorism officers will be ready to support our counterparts in New Zealand in responding to and investigating this appalling attack," said Met Police Assistant Commissioner Basu.

Expressing his condolences to all those affected in the attack, Basu said his team stands together with the Muslim communities and all other communities as well as partners in the UK and overseas to work with them to counter the threat 'no matter where it comes from'.

"Together with our intelligence partners, we continually monitor the varied threats we face, including to and around places of worship and specific communities across the country, to ensure we have the most appropriate protective security measures in place to keep people safe," he said.

Basu's statement came as it emerged that senior counter-terrorism experts and security services personnel are set to hold talks with UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid on how mosques in the UK can best be protected.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who described the attacks as 'heartbreaking', reiterated that there would be 'highly visible policing around mosques today, as well as armed response officers, as Londoners go to pray'.

Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Theresa May led condolences from the UK following the deadliest terror attack in New Zealand's history.

The Queen said her 'thoughts and prayers are with all New Zealanders at this 'tragic time'. -- PTI

Mehta also ordered a probe against them and a departmental inquiry against two retired chief engineers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The directions were given by the civic chief following an inquiry conducted by the chief engineer (vigilance).

Executive engineer A R Patil, who had supervised the structural audit of the bridge in 2017-18, and assistant Engineer S F Kakulte who had supervised its repair works in 2013-14, were suspended and a departmental enquiry has been ordered against them, an official said.

Mehta also ordered a departmental enquiry against the then chief engineer (bridges) S O Kori and the then deputy chief engineer R B Tare (both retired).

Charges will be framed against the officers accordingly, the official added.

Six persons were killed and 31 injured after a section of the foot overbridge near a busy train station in south Mumbai collapsed during evening rush hour on Thursday. -- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to release its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, when its central election committee is scheduled to meet.

The list will have the names of most of the candidates for the first phase of polling, which will be held on April 11 in 91 seats.

The election for 543 parliamentary seats will be held in seven phases till May 19 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 23.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and other top BJP leaders will attend the central election committee meeting.

All 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will go to the polls in the first phase with a fraction of constituencies in many other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam, also to witness polling on April 11.

Union ministers Satya Pal Singh, V K Singh, Mahesh Sharma, Giriraj Singh and Kiren Rijiju are among those whose constituencies will go to the polls in the first phase.

The BJP is likely to take a call on their fate at Saturday's meeting.

The Assembly polls in Telangana and Odisha will be held simultaneously with the general election.

With Modi known for dropping a number of incumbents in order to beat the anti-incumbency factor, the saffron party has been abuzz with speculation over the fate of its sitting MPs.

It has sought feedback from a number of sources, including the public, and has also asked its MPs to furnish details of the works they have carried out as it finalises its candidates for the upcoming polls. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed 'deep shock and sadness' over the death of scores of people in the heinous terrorist attack in New Zealand while stressing India's strong condemnation of terrorism and of all those who support such acts of violence.

In a letter to Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, Modi also underscored India's solidarity with the people of her country at this difficult time.

Mass shootings at two mosques full of worshippers attending on Friday prayers killed at least 49 people in Christchurch, while several explosive devices were defused, in what appeared to be a carefully planned racist attack.

"The prime minister has expressed his deep shock and sadness at the loss of scores of innocent lives in the heinous terrorist attack at the places of worship in Christchurch," the External Affairs Ministry said in an official release.

"The prime minister stressed India's strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and of all those who support such acts of violence. He stressed that hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies."

Modi also expressed his deepest condolences to the families bereaved in this dastardly attack, offered heartfelt prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured and underscored India's solidarity with the friendly people of New Zealand at this difficult time. -- PTI

A preliminary report of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has blamed the structural audit for the collapse of foot-over bridge near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station on Thursday.

The incident had left six people killed and more than 30 others injured.

There is a prima facie reason to believe that the structural audit has been conducted an irresponsible and negligent manner. This tragedy could have been avoided if the structural audit had been done diligently, news agency ANI reported on Friday.

At a time when tensions with Pakistan are heightened, the defence ministry is likely to consider a proposal to buy 10 lakh multi-mode hand grenades for the Indian Army under the 'Make in India' project in the military sector.

A proposal for buying 10 lakh hand grenades from an Indian firm would be considered by the Defence Ministry at a high-level meeting to be chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this week, government sources said.

The more than Rs 500 crore proposal is critical as the government has already taken care of the main personal weapon requirements of the army soldiers by signing two contracts for modern rifles.

In the first case, a contract worth over Rs 700 crore for around 75,000 Sig Sauer assault rifles from an American firm has been signed while a joint venture has been formed with Russia to manufacture 7.5 lakh modern AK-203 assault rifles.

The project for acquiring new hand grenades is required for the replacement of the existing HE-36 grenades manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board. The multi-mode grenades have been developed by the DRDO and a production agency has been selected to manufacture them in large numbers. Hand grenades are among the few critical weapons that soldiers need in the time of war as they can be used to cause heavy damage to enemy positions or bunkers apart from taking out their soldiers.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have been heightened after the Pulwama attack on February 14 in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

India avenged the attack by striking the Balakot terrorist training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

"My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!"

His message follows an earlier White House statement in response to the mass shootings at New Zealand mosques that left 49 dead.

The United States strongly condemns the attack in Christchurch. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with the people of New Zealand and their government against this vicious act of hate, said the statement.

Global leaders have also been sending messages of support. "On behalf of the UK, my deepest condolences to the people of New Zealand after the horrifying terrorist attack in Christchurch," British Prime Minister Theresa May wrote on Twitter. "My thoughts are with all of those affected by this sickening act of violence."

"All our thoughts for the victims of heinous crimes against the mosques of Christchurch in New Zealand and for their loved ones," French President Emmanuel Macron added.

IMAGE: A floral tribute is seen on Linwood Avenue near the Linwood Masjid. Mosques across New Zealand have been closed and police are urging people not to attend Friday prayers as a safety precaution. Photograph: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Calling Gandhi the "next Prime Minister of India", the Congress Legislature Party leader recalled his grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka in the past.

"Karnataka has always supported & encouraged @INCIndia leaders. It has been proved in case of Smt. Indira ji & Smt. Sonia ji. We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri. @RahulGandhi to contest from Karnataka & herald new developmental paradigm. #RaGaFromKarnataka," Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.

While Indira Gandhi had scripted her political comeback from Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka by winning the Lok Sabha bypolls in 1978, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had contested and won from Bellary in 1999, trouncing the BJP's Sushma Swaraj.

Interestingly, the Congress has ceded the Chikkamagaluru seat to its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) this time, while Bellary remains with the grand old party. Siddaramaiah's tweet has come amid reports about pressure within the Congress for Rahul Gandhi to contest from one of the seats in south India.

The Congress had, earlier this month, announced that the party chief would contest from Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, both traditional strongholds of the party in Uttar Pradesh. -- PTI

17:13Mirwaiz refuses to appear before NIA for questioning: A day after NIA issued fresh summon notice to Hurriyat (M) Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday, he categorically refused to appear before the investigation agency. Farooq was summoned by NIA to appear before it in New Delhi on Monday next week.

"I will not travel to Delhi, nor will I turn up for any investigation come what may," said Mirwaiz during his Friday sermon at historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar.

Farooq also appealed youth to be calm and do not sway in emotions. He also stated that there is no military solution to the Kashmir issue."India and Pakistan need to talk and solve this issue," said Farooq. -- PTI

15:50Terrorists don't deserve names: Oz PM: With an Australia-born man emerging as the prime suspect in one of the two terror attacks in New Zealand, Australian Prime Minister on Friday said he cannot understand how anyone who would engage in such hate and violence can be called a "human".

At least 49 worshippers were killed in attacks on the Al Noor Mosque in central Christchurch and the Linwood Mosque in the city's outer suburb, in what appeared to be the worst attack against Muslims in a western country. Witnesses said victims being shot at close range, with women and children believed to be among those killed. The gunman at one mosque was an Australian-born citizen, Australia PM Scott Morrison said in Sydney, describing him as "an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist". Morrison said an investigation has been launched into the Australian man's involvement in the attack.

"We are outraged and we stand here and condemn absolutely the attack that occurred today by an extremist, right-wing violent terrorist who has taken the lives, stolen lives, in a vicious, murderous attack that has claimed so many New Zealanders," Morrison said from Kirribilli House.

Morrison said he had no information to suggest any Australians had been killed but noted it was "very early on" and the situation was unfolding. Media reports identified Brenton Tarrant, an Australia-born man, as one of the suspects.

A manifesto posted to social media by a person claiming to be named Brenton Tarrant notes he was born in Australia and it is believed he spent time living in Grafton, in northern New South Wales. "These people don't deserve names," Morrison later said. "Names imply some sort of humanity and I struggle to see how anyone who would engage in this sort of hate and violence is human. He doesn't deserve a name."

The Prime Minister said the suspect was not known to Australian authorities. "It is the work of hate," the Prime Minister said. "That sort of hateful thinking has just reaped murder and misery on a peaceful people just going about their practice of faith on a Friday. It's disgusting." Morrison met senior national security officials, and while noting authorities had "already put in place all the necessary responses and precautions" he did not go into details. "This attack reminds us of the evil that is ever-present and would seek to strike out at any time and I particularly want to convey my heartfelt sympathies not only to all New Zealand people, but particularly my sincere prayers and thoughts for those New Zealanders and indeed Australians of Islamic faith who have been the subject of this callous right-wing extremist attack," he said.-- PTI

Image: Australia PM Scott Morrison

15:40Ensure good results: Mayawati: Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Friday asked supporters to pay true homage to party ideologue Kanshi Ram by ensuring good results in the Lok Sabha election.

"His birth anniversary is being observed at a time when the Lok Sabha elections have been announced and the true homage to Kanshi Ramji will be if party workers and leaders ensure good results by remaining vigilant against the all-out tricks that our political adversaries will be resorting to," Mayawati said. -- PTI

In a meeting chaired by BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta Friday morning, it was also decided that the civic body's Chief Engineer (Vigilance) would conduct an inquiry into the causes that led to the deck of the FOB collapsing on Thursday evening.

Ward Officer Kiran Dighawkar said work on dismantling the FOB had begun and cranes and gas-cutters had been assembled for the work. "We aim to open DN Road for vehicular traffic by 7 pm Friday," he said.

Another official said the Chief Engineer (Vigilance) has been asked to submit his preliminary report within 24 hours identifying staff responsible and the role of those who carried out its structural audit. The scope of the probe would include the history of the bridge, the time when the structural audit was carried out, and whether the methodology used was appropriate and staff deployed had adequate technical expertise, the official informed.

Earlier in the day, a BMC official had said the FOB was was found to be structurally safe when it was audited in August 2016, soon after a British-era bridge over Savitri River got washed away in monsoon downpour in Mahad in Raigad district. "During that audit, 354 bridges were checked for their structural soundness. The FOB that collapsed on Thursday was marked C2B. This means it needed minor repairs only. Tenders were floated for the repair but it got held up," the official had said Friday morning.

After a visit to the site Friday morning, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked Mehta to fix "primary responsibility" for Thursday's foot overbridge collapse by evening. -- PTI

Image: Dismantling the FOB has begun and cranes and gas-cutters have been assembled for the work. Pic: Sahil Salvi

Here's what happened to the Bangladeshi cricket team: The plan was to offer the Friday namaaz and then head for practice. But the Bangladesh players ended up praying for their own lives as they narrowly escaped a terror attack inside a mosque close to the Hagley Oval ground in New Zealand's Christchurch. The team bus was barely metres away from the scene of the carnage when the players first heard gunshots. Moments later they saw a woman collapse.

Some of the players wanted to help the distressed woman, but just then they saw a horde of petrified worshippers pouring out of the mosque, some of them covered in blood.

"We couldn't react initially. In such a horror situation, your brain automatically freezes as you are terrified. That's exactly happened to all of us," Bangladesh cricket team's Performance Analyst Shrinivas Chandrasekaran, who was in the bus, told PTI over telephone from the team hotel in Christchurch.

Shrinivas, a Mumbai-based software engineer who works as a video analyst with the Bangladesh team said that initially they didn't even realise that it was a terror attack.

"It was a few metres away from the mosque and we suddenly heard gunshots. Neither the players nor me initially realised what was happening. Suddenly we saw this woman fainting on the road. We thought it was a medical emergency and some of the boys wanted to get down from the bus and help the lady," said Shrinivas, his voice still quivering as he recalled the the team's close shave.

"However, we realised that it was something much bigger than what we had thought. We saw people running for their lives and blood everywhere and suddenly we were all told to lie down quietly on the floor of the bus. I don't know for how many minutes we lay on the floor of the bus. Once we understood, everyone was calm and did what was told," said Shrinivas.

It was some time before the police arrived and they were escorted out of the backdoor of the team bus and taken to the ground. "It is obvious that all the players and support staff are in a state of shock. They are all too shocked to react." -- PTI

IMAGE: People react in front of the Masjd Al Noor Mosque the site of one of the two terror attacks. Photograph: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Tom Vadakkan, who used to be the face of the Congress in the capacity of a spokesperson, joined the BJP on Thursday, saying he had quit the grand old party because it was now resorting to "use and throw' approach.

He said the dynastic politics in Congress has reached a level which is not acceptable to "self-respecting people'.

Vadakkan, National Secretary (Communications) in the All India Congress Committee was inducted into the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

"The reason why I left the Congress party, with a heavy heart, is that the attack by the Pakistani terrorists on our land and the reaction from my party was sad indeed. When you question the integrity of the armed forces, I am deeply hurt and that is why I am here," he said after joining the party.

"The question is not of the ideology. If a political party takes a decision that is against the nation, I had no other option but to leave it. It is about love for our nation. You are aware of the issues and during such a time, making such statements on such issues is vague," said Vadakkan while attacking the Congress.

The top court stayed the operation of the judgment by which the high court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh each on the editor and the publisher. The case relates to an article published by the paper on the perks and facilities for retired judges and their families.

The high court had also said that if the two persons failed to deposit the amount, they will have to undergo six months simple imprisonment and the paper will be banned.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, also issued notice to the high court registrar on the appeal filed by the editor and the publisher of newspaper. The high court had on March 8 sentenced the editor and the publisher to sit in the corner of the court room till the rising of the court in the contempt case. -- PTI

Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jitendra Awhad said the money being spent on the high speed rail project, a joint venture between India and Japan, should be invested to upgrade suburban railway facilities in the metropolis and surrounding areas.

He said scrapping the bullet train project would be part of the NCP's manifesto and claimed it would be called off within one month of the party attaining power.

"The prime concern of the government should be improvement of railway facilities. A blame game by authorities is not the solution. We demand that the bullet train project be cancelled since it is merely a show-off project and a waste of tax-payers' money," he claimed.

"We will also include this point in our manifesto. Within one month of coming to power, we will scrap the bullet train project and use the money for suburban rail and its connecting services," Awhad added. "Specialised audit and immediate maintenance is required of dilapidated bridges, several 50-70 years old, over railway tracks in Mumbai and suburban areas," he said against the backdrop of Thursday's bridge collapse. He claimed over 200 railway-related accidents occur daily which either cause loss of lives or injuries to commuters. -- PTI

Image: PM Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe pose before the Bullet Train in Tokyo.

12:45News updates at this hour : -- France says it has decided to freeze the French assets of Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar.

-- CST FOB collapse: Remaining portions, including the metallic frame of the bridge, will be removed today. The slabs were removed last night after a part of a foot over bridge near CSMT railway station collapsed yesterday.

Image: Six people died in the FOB collapse at CSMT last evening. Pic: Sahil Salvi.

At 11:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up 244 points to 37,999 while the NSE Nifty 50 was up 76 points at 11,419.Banking, realty, IT, financial services and pharma stocks traded higher by nearly one per cent while FMCG, media and metal were under pressure.

Among the gainers were Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank. Coal India, Hindustan Lever and Airtel were in the red on National Stock Exchange. The most active stocks were heavyweights like Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank. -- ANI

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that 40 people have been killed in the mosque attack in Christchurch. She termed it as a terror attack and described it as one of the darkest days in the country's history. New Zealand police say all mosques nationally have been asked to shut their doors.

"This is one of New Zealand's darkest days. It was an unprecedented act of violence. Police has apprehended a person, but I don't have further details of him yet. Forty people have lost their lives; more than 20 people seriously injured in mosque shooting," she said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said that the gunman who killed numerous worshippers in a New Zealand mosque was a right-wing extremist with Australian citizenship. Morrison said the shooting in Christchurch was carried out by "an extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist" who was an Australian-born citizen.

Four people - one woman and three men - have been taken into custody in relation to the gruesome shootings at two mosques here, New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush said on Friday, highlighting that there are a "significant" number of casualties.

One of the mosques has been identified as the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, where a perpetrator - a white man in his 30's or 40's - entered the mosque and started shooting indiscriminately with an automatic weapon. Several casualties are feared as the Muslim community had congregated for their Friday prayers when the incident took place. There were reportedly more than 300 people inside the mosque at the time of the shooting.

11:59Sreesanth ban issue will be taken up at CoA meeting: Vinod Rai: The life ban on S Sreesanth will be discussed when the Committee of Administrators running Indian cricket meets next after the Supreme Court asked the BCCI to reconsider the punishment handed to the pacer for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.

A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and K M Joseph said the BCCI's disciplinary committee may reconsider, within three months, the quantum of punishment to be given to Sreesanth.

The bench made it clear that the 36-year-old Sreesanth must be heard by the committee on the quantum of the punishment. "Yes, I have heard about the Supreme Court order. We will need to get the copy of the order. We will definitely take up the issue at the COA meeting," COA chief Vinod Rai told PTI.

The COA is scheduled to meet on March 18 to discuss the anti-doping policy of the Board with the International Cricket Council officials. The issue of Sreesanth's ban might come up among the COA on that day. BCCI now has a new ombudsman in Justice (Retd ) DK Jain and amicus curiae PS Narsimha, it is expected that the decision will be fast-tracked.

BCCI acting president CK Khanna made it clear that it will be completely COA's call as the onus is on it to implement the apex court's order. -- PTI

11:51Fix responsibility for bridge collapse by today: Maha CM:
Update on the bridge collapse in Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he had asked BMC chief Ajoy Mehta to fix "primary responsibility" for Thursday's foot overbridge collapse by Friday evening. The deck of a foot overbridge on DN Road connected to CSMT station collapsed Thursday evening, killing six persons and injuring 31.

Fadnavis was speaking to reporters after meeting the injured in St George's Hospital nearby. "It is shocking that such an accident can take place even after a structural audit. Primary responsibility will be fixed by this evening. I have asked civic chief (Ajoy Mehta) to find out names of those responsible," Fadnavis said.

"A high level probe into this incident has already been ordered. Those responsible (for the collapse) will be punished," he said.

Earlier in the day, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official had said the FOB was was found to be structurally safe when it was audited in August 2016, soon after a British-era bridge over Savitri River got washed away in monsoon downpour in Mahad in Raigad district.

"During that audit, 354 bridges were checked for their structural soundness. The FOB that collapsed on Thursday was marked C2B. This means it needed minor repairs only. Tenders were floated for the repair but it got held up," the official had said Friday morning. Fadnavis also said he had ordered a re-visit of all earlier structural audits carried out on such structures. -- PTI

Image: A top shot of the partially demolished FOB over DN Road. Pic: Sahil Salvi.

"Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.

''I will go to any length to help people.''If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die."

That's S Sreesanth, the politician, speaking to Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar and Saisuresh Sivaswamy, while contesting the Thiruvananthapuram seat in the 2016 Assembly polls. Sreesanth was handed out a temporary reprieve by the SC when it asked the BCCI to reconsider the quantum of punishment while upholding the findings by the Disciplinary Committee.

Read the interview with Sreesanth the politician here. (The cricketer lost the seat.)

11:31Sad bridge collapsed even after structural audit: Fadnavis: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday visited St George hospital in Mumbai where several of the injured in Thursday's foot overbridge collapse near the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station have been admitted.

Speaking to the media, Fadnavis said, "I met all the 11 injured. Out of 11, ten are in the general ward and one is in the ICU but is out of danger. It is sad that even after carrying out structural audits, such incidents are taking place... A thorough investigation will be carried out in the case. I have also asked the BMC to finish primary repair work of the bridge till the evening so that people can commute hassle-free," he added.

At least six people were killed and over 30 injured after a portion of a foot overbridge near the bustling railway station collapsed on Thursday evening. A big slab of the FOB came crashing down at around 7.20 pm due to which several pedestrians were injured.

The injured were admitted to three nearby hospitals -- St George Hospital, GT Hospital and Bombay Hospital.

Atmaram Babu recalled how he got the information about his injured brother moments after the incident took place. "My relatives got the information on WhatsApp about the collapse of the bridge and later informed about me about my brother. He has sustained injuries on his leg and waist. He use to sell bananas on the bridge. Before him, our uncle used to sell bananas on the bridge. We are doing business on that bridge from a very long time." -- ANI

In a huge relief to cricketer S Sreesanth, the Supreme Court has temporarily revoked the lifetime ban on playing the game. The BCCI had banned the cricketer for his alleged involvement in the IPL spot-fixing scandal of 2013. Sreesanth had challenged the decision in the top court.

A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, asked the BCCI to decide afresh on the point of quantum of punishment given to Sreesanth. The SC in its order asked the BCCI to reconsider Sreesanth's plea within three months.

The BCCI had told the Supreme Court that the life ban imposed for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing was fully sustainable in law.

"Life ban given to Mohammed Azharuddin (former India captain) was overturned. Pakistans Salim Malik got a life ban but it was overturned. Hansie Cronje was given life ban but he died in a plane crash when proceedings were not closed," senior advocate Salman Khurshid, for Sreesanth, had told Bench of Justices Ashoka Bhushan and KM Joseph.

Khurshid argued that despite the ban and losing the best part of his career, Sreesanth has remained loyal to the BCCI and wants to "reconnect" with the Board.

New Zealand Police has confirmed the arrest of four people. Mike Bush of the police said four people were in custody -- one woman, three men. "We are still looking at the circumstances around it. Let's not presume that the danger is gone," he said. Police have called it a 'serious and evolving situation involving an active shooter'. New Zealand police also say they have defused a number of improvised explosive devices found on vehicles after the mosque shootings

Several people were reported dead when a gunman opened fire at a crowded mosque in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, during afternoon prayers Friday.

Local media reported up to six people were dead and the South Island city was placed in lockdown as police hunted for an "active shooter."

The Masjid al Noor was filled with worshippers, including members of the Bangladesh cricket team. One witness told stuff.co.nz he was praying in the Deans Ave mosque when he heard shooting and saw his wife lying dead on the footpath outside when he fled. Another man said he saw children being shot.

An eyewitness told Radio New Zealand he heard shots fired and four people were lying on the ground, with "blood everywhere".

09:55Sonic booms over Amritsar? Yes, IAF carried out exercises along Pak border: The Indian Air Force carried out a major readiness exercise last night over Punjab and Jammu in which a large number of fighter aircraft participated. During the exercise, Indian Air Force jets, including frontline aircraft, flew at supersonic speeds in the border districts including Amritsar in Punjab, sources said here. The reason for carrying out the combat drill was to be prepared for thwarting any misadventure by the Pakistan Air Force to intrude into the Indian air space, they said.

Twitter was abuzz in the early hours of Friday after users in Amritsar said they heard "two loud sounds". #Amritsar was trending on Twitter with users sharing theories what the sounds could be. The police have tried to calm the nerves of the local users, saying "everything was okay" in the city.

"I appeal to the people to not believe in rumours on social media. Everything is okay. As per our information nothing has happened," Jagjit Singh Walia, ADCP Amritsar, told news agency ANI.

The IAF has been on a high alert ever since it carried out air strikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp in Balakot town of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunwa province on February 26. A couple of days ago, two PAF fighter jets flew at supersonic speeds over Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir around 10 kilometres from the Line of Control in the Poonch sector.

After the PAF started flying its planes close to Indian borders and were detected and monitored closely by the air defence network, the Indian fighter plane fleet was also ready to respond to them.

The IAF had an edge over the adversary in the aerial combat as its vintage MiG-21 fighter flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down a modern F-16D fighter plane of the PAF in a beyond visual-range fight.

In an unusual move, the United States summoned Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib hours after he blasted Special US Representative Zalmay Khalilzad for bypassing the elected government of Afghanistan in their direct peace talks with the Taliban.

"Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale summoned Afghan National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib today to reject the public comments attributed to National Security Advisor Mohib criticizing the US approach to reconciliation," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said after the meeting the between the two officials.

Over the past two days, Mohib at various public forums -- during an appearance at a Washington DC-based think-tank and in an interaction with reporters -- described the US's talks with the Taliban as surrender discussion.

He alleged Khalilzad was keeping the "duly elected" Afghan government in dark and that in the latest round of talks in Doha, they were humiliated and made to wait in a hotel lobby.

"We don't know what's going on. We don't have the kind of transparency that we should have," Mohib told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.

He claimed the Afghan government was getting the information in bits and pieces.

"The last people to find out (about the peace talks) are us," Mohib claimed.

He alleged the Afghan-born US diplomat Khalilzad has personal ambition in Afghanistan.

"The perception in Afghanistan, and people in the government think that perhaps -- perhaps -- all of this talk is to create a caretaker government of which he will then become the viceroy," Mohib alleged.

But Palladino said Under Secretary Hale in his meeting with the Afghan NSA "underscored" the "longstanding" US assistance and support to Afghanistan.

Hale expressed America's commitment to the Afghan government's stability and full participation in the peace process, the State Department deputy spokesman said.

"He also reminded National Security Advisor Mohib that Special Representative Khalilzad represents the Secretary, and that attacks on Ambassador Khalilzad are attacks on the Department and only serve to hinder the bilateral relationship and the peace process," Palladino said in a strongly worded statement. -- PTI

Pakistan on Thursday said that the meeting with India to discuss and finalise the modalities of the Kartarpur corridor went well overall, despite some differences on some issues, and the talks were held in a positive and conducive environment.

Mohammad Faisal, DG (SA and SAARC) of Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs, which led the delegation, said that discussions were held on issues related to the corridor, its construction, road, and other technicalities, The Dawn reported.

Terming the meeting as an achievement, Faisal said that both India and Pakistan had issued a joint statement after a few years, adding that the same was reached in 2015.

Reading out the statement, he said, "Both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor."

"Both sides also held expert-level discussions between technical experts on the alignment and other details of the proposed corridor," he added.

An eighteen-member Pakistani delegation had arrived in India on Thursday. The Indian delegation was led by S.C.L. Das, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

India and Pakistan agreed to work "expeditiously" to operationalise Kartarpur corridor and decided to hold a meeting of the technical experts on March 19, which will be followed by another round of talks on the issue on April 2.

"The first meeting to discuss the modalities and the draft Agreement for facilitation of pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Kartarpur Corridor was held today at Attari, India in a cordial environment. Both sides held detailed and constructive discussions on various aspects and provisions of the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the Kartapur Sahib Corridor," according to a statement by India's Ministry of External Affairs."It was agreed to hold the next meeting at Wagah on 2 April 2019. This will be preceded by a meeting of the technical experts on 19 March 2019 at the proposed zero points to finalise the alignment," the statement added.

On November 26 last year, India's Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Two days later, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor in Narowal near Lahore.

Once the corridor is opened, it would allow Sikh pilgrims direct access to the historic Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, where Guru Nanak Dev breathed his last in 1539.

Bangladesh's cricket team escaped unscathed after a deadly shooting at a mosque in New Zealand, an official said on Friday.

Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal wrote on Twitter: "Entire team got saved from active shooters!!! Frightening experience and please keep us in your prayers." Local media said multiple people were killed in the incident.

Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus said most of the team were bussed to the mosque in Christchurch and were about to go inside when the incident happened.

"All members of the Bangladesh Cricket Team in Christchurch, New Zealand are safely back in the hotel following the incident of shooting in the city. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is in constant contact with the players and team management," the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Twitter.

The United Kingdom Parliament on Thursday voted in favour of delaying Brexit beyond March 29 as the chaotic process of the UK's divorce from the European Union plunged the country into a political deadlock.

The motion for delaying the Brexit Day was passed in the House of Commons by 412 votes to 202.

However, the delay in the Brexit process would now require the unanimous approval of all 27 remaining EU member states, which in effects gives the 28-member bloc the power to dictate the terms of an extension.

Meanwhile, the EU officials have indicated that are not interested to provide more time for political tussles in the UK and would approve an extension only if there were a specific reason for one.

EU Council chief Donald Tusk on Thursday said the bloc could approve a long postponement 'if the UK finds it necessary to rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it', indicating the possibility of a softer Brexit only if May abandons her stand, especially her opposition to being in a customs union with Europe.

However, other EU leaders have warned of not supporting an extension if the UK cannot be clear about what it wants.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said he wasn't sure if more time was the answer.

The EU needs 'more decisions' from London, he said in Brussels, adding, "We have to know, what is the intention of the British parliament? What are the choices of the British authorities?"

Thursday's round of Brexit tussles came a day after the UK Parliament voted to reject the possibility of Britain leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement in place. -- PTI